Biggest European Carmakers To Open 400 Charging Stations For EVs

The biggest carmakers from Europe are about to give Tesla a run for their money. BMW AG, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen (with Audi and Porsche) are teaming up as IONITY to start the first pan-European High Power Charging network #automagic

If Tesla has its Supercharger network, these German carmakers want to establish hundreds of charging stations that cater to more than one brand of car and with smaller charging times. The plan is to build the network progressively, in the next three years. By 2020, IONITY’s hope is to have 400 charging stations, each placed at 120 km (75 miles) distance from the previous one.

For starters, this year you’ll see 20 stations more popping up in Germany, Norway and Austria. They’ll be run in partnership with Tank & Rast [LINDOTA.UL], Circle K and OMV. Next year, 100 more stations will open with a capacity of 350 kW and the possibility to pay digitally for those services. If the car doesn’t support 350kw charging, that’s okay; the network is backwards-compatible, either way.

Each charging station is going to allow users to charge their cars simultaneously, no matter the brand. These would use the existing European standard, the Combined Charging System to reduce the charging time.